SOCCEROOS coach Holger Osieck wants to remove the pressure from his dressing room ahead of tonight's crunch World Cup qualifier against Thailand, a process he says ''starts with me''.
Last weekend's surprise loss in Oman has suddenly opened the door to the unthinkable - a failure to qualify for the next phase of the qualifying campaign - and although that remains unlikely, Osieck wants his players to approach tonight's game in a relaxed frame of mind. A point against Thailand will take Australia through to the next stage with one game, against Saudi Arabia in February, to spare.
''We didn't have the best performance in Oman,'' he said. ''We addressed it. We pointed out the things that were not going our way. It's a mental thing. Let's say it's a thing of apprehension.''
How could he remove that apprehension? ''First of all, it starts with me. The way I approach the players, and the way they react. If I keep picking on negative things they wouldn't feel too comfortable. You have to look forward in a positive way.''
Being positive, according to Osieck, is partly about minimising projections of qualification and instead focusing only on tonight's game. ''I send a team on the pitch that wants to win because I want to win,'' he said. ''I'm not considering qualifying, I'm focused on the game and to actually win it. The other thing [qualifying] doesn't matter to me right now because it leads into the area I don't like - calculation.''
As usual, Osieck has refused to reveal his starting side, but indications are there will be at least one change - Michael Zullo reinstated at left back in a reshuffle caused by the withdrawal of Harry Kewell through injury. Asked by a Thai journalist to name his team, Osieck replied: ''You're joking.''
While a point will be enough, Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill insists the players remain committed to their target of winning every game.
''If you go into a game trying to draw you go into a game for the wrong reasons,'' Neill said. ''The mood is definitely about determination. Nothing changes the way we want to play, we just have to be smarter about it. Now it's about putting the talking into action. We must win the game to get the job done, but there's a way to go about it.''
Osieck concedes part of that process is to make sure the Socceroos avoid the slow start in Oman that allowed the home team to dictate the flow of the game.
''I can confirm we played very static football,'' he said. ''Our game is to have fluent football, to have options for the man with the ball, to create space. It's a very lively style of play, which wasn't the case in Oman.''
Thailand, wounded by their own defeat in Saudi Arabia, will be desperate opponents, and are sweating on the return of star striker Teerasil Dangda, the scorer of their goal against the Socceroos in Brisbane.
Email a friend